To most people, Audrey Hepburn was a graceful star. She was the actress who turned the little black dress into something special and charmed Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, and Fred Astaire without even trying. But behind all the glamour of 1950s Hollywood, there was one legend that actually scared her. His name was Humphrey Bogart.
The 1954 movie ‘Sabrina‘ is still a beloved classic. It showed Hepburn in a beautiful Givenchy dress and started so many fashion trends. However, behind the scenes, the production was a “poisonous” battleground. The main problem was a 30-year age gap and Bogart’s anger. He thought he was too old for his part, and he believed the wrong woman was cast as his co-star.
Humphrey Bogart’s Disdain and the ‘Sabrina’ Film Set
According to biographer Barry Parris, Hepburn was very honest about how she felt. “I was rather terrified of Humphrey Bogart – and he knew it,” she said in an interview for his book ‘Audrey Hepburn‘.
Related: Audrey Hepburn Ended Her Secret Affair With William Holden Over One Devastating Truth
Why was she so scared? It wasn’t just gossip. It was how mean Bogart could be. He was 55 at the time and had really wanted his wife, Lauren Bacall, to play the lead role of Sabrina Fairchild. But the part went to 25-year-old Hepburn instead, and after that, the mood on set turned very cold.
“If he didn’t like me, he certainly never showed it,” Hepburn added. What she really meant was that his silence and coldness hurt just as much.
Although it wasn’t only the silence. The movie was directed by Billy Wilder, and the two stars worked very differently. Hepburn was careful and studied her craft. She needed several takes to get things right. Bogart, the old pro from ‘Casablanca‘, thought that was just bad acting.
When reporters asked Bogart how he liked working with Hepburn, his answer was full of disrespect. “It’s OK, if you don’t mind to make a dozen takes,” he said. Some stories say he changed the number to 36 or even 50 takes, depending on how mad he was that day. He also made fun of her European accent and gave her co-star William Holden a rude nickname.
How Humphrey Bogart Sprayed Audrey Hepburn with Spit During Romantic Scenes
Author Edward Z. Epstein wrote about how bad things got in his book ‘Audrey and Bill’. He said the atmosphere was so toxic that Hepburn had to prepare herself just to get through romantic scenes. “Not only was the atmosphere poisonous, but in romantic scenes with Bogart, she had to steel herself never to react when he sprayed her with spit,” Epstein wrote.
In case you missed it: The Creepy True Story Behind Audrey Hepburn’s Stolen Oscar
To make things worse, while Bogart was angry, William Holden was falling in love with Hepburn. The two younger stars started a secret affair on set. Bogart hated that and thought it was unprofessional.
Humphrey Bogart’s Tennis Compliment to a Terrified Co-Star
However, here is the strange part. Bogart’s meanness might have been a weird form of respect. He didn’t like how she worked, but he liked that she was not predictable. She was not like other starlets who just did what they were told. She stood her ground.
One time, Bogart gave her a surprising compliment. “You take the Monroes and the Terry Moores, and you know just what you’re going to get every time,” he said. “With Audrey, it’s kind of unpredictable. She’s like a good tennis player – she varies her shots.”
Even with all the problems on set, including a screenwriter who had a nervous breakdown because of constant rewrites, ‘Sabrina‘ was a huge hit. It proved that even when she was terrified, Audrey Hepburn was still amazing on screen. As for Bogart, he walked away $300,000 richer. But he made one thing clear: in his town, you had to earn the spotlight, and not even the brightest star in Hollywood could shine without his acknowledgement.
You might also want to read: The Real Reason Billy Wilder Didn’t Want Humphrey Bogart in ‘Sabrina’
